Ice cream and a smile
by parmakai66
Summary: What lay on those overstuffed pillows under the heavy wooden lid wasn’t his friend, it was just the packaging that harnessed the energy of a life.
1. Chapter 1

Disclaimer: Felicity is the property of WB and JJ Abrams. No Infringement intended.

Summary: _How could we be so wrong about each other? _Those words had echoed in his head for years. Now fate was finally giving him the opportunity to do something about it.

Ice Cream and a Smile.

Four score and seven years ago ….that's practically how he felt, even though it wasn't the exact mathematical formula that calculated how long he had been in love with her. Yet walking through this cemetery, past headstones that documented civil war era deaths, it was the only thought that flew through his head.

He slowed his gait as the hearse and line of cars paraded through the quiet resting place. Five years ago he would have never believed he would be here, in this place saying goodbye to a close friend. But it happened and he came. For Zoe and now this.

It was all so senseless. A tragedy that played out on the big stage with characters that were alive and charismatic and real. The relationships their college years had forged struggled through all the hardships of life, the pain, the happiness, the love, and the hurt. The one constant at the end of it all was the irreplaceable existence, the unconditional friendship that just remained. It bonded these seemingly strangers to the end. And today was an end for one of their friends.

He turned and walked toward the burial plot. The casket sat on the support grid waiting to be lowered into the ground. The chairs behind it were empty and alone. It was odd to think that was the final goodbye. A thousand questions crossed his mind as he wondered what happened in those last moments of life. Were they filled with smiles and joy or sadness and despair? Was it painful or a blissful euphoria that enveloped the heart and stole that last breath? No one would ever know. No one could ever explain what it felt like to be dead.

He stopped at the side of the mahogany casket and ran his hand along its smooth side. The wood felt cold beneath his skin and reflected the emotion that boiled in his heart. This was only the shell of the person he knew. The person that he shared his life, partied with, played basketball with, fought with, lived with … and so many more things that he couldn't even quantify. What lay on those overstuffed pillows under the heavy wooden lid wasn't his friend, it was just the packaging that harnessed the energy of a life. And while he would never truly understand why, it was time to let that life go.

He looked up and saw her standing under the tree. He wondered how long she had been watching him. If she saw things the same way as he, understood the magnitude of what had happened the same way as the circle of their friends did. He knew in his heart, those answers would all be no.

Her eyes were glazed over as he walked to her side. The numb expression on her face answered most of the questions he was afraid to ask, yet he wanted to know so many things to make sense of this all. That would all come in time, because at this minute there was nothing else as important as what she needed.

Ironically that had always been his place. He was always the one to believe in her when the life had let her down. The one she came to when she was lost and needed direction or a boost or to just be that person for her. He just understood and unconditionally loved her. The thought that anyone could ever take advantage of her … made his blood boil.

She slid into his arms like a glove. A fit that was perfect in so many ways. A flush of memories teased his brain as he ran his fingers through her hair. The warmth of the embrace stood in contrast to the cool breeze in the trees. He held her as long as she needed, as she sobbed into the fabric of his shirt. He waited for the nonverbal signal that she was ready to close this open page.

Their friends waited by the car holding in the breath that no one was willing to release. Noel ran his thumb across her cheek catching the last of the tears as they streamed down her face. Felicity lifted her head from his shoulder and looked up into his eyes. The wordless conversation that sparked between them needed no explanation, just raw comprehension of that place that she was in. He knew it so well, having lived it himself.

Felicity had been there for him on a winter day just like today. Stepping to his side and asking nothing from him, she was the buffer in the mist of the questions that made no sense. A life so tragically taken for no plausible reason. She was there when the crippling emotions sliced through him, leaving him breathless and beaten in defeat. She was there to help him pull it together and gave him reason to love and laugh and just be. She got him in all the ways that no one understood. And today, it was his time to repay.

Noel glanced to the left and eyed Sean, Meghan, Richard and Javier as they waited. He pulled Felicity close and planted a soft kiss on her forehead. There was nowhere that any of them needed to be, other than where she needed them. And as much as he knew where she wanted to stay … it was time to leave.

"You ready to go?" he asked in a husky whisper.

"Yeah," she answered turning in his embrace so they could walk the thirty feet to the suburban idling at the side of the drive.

As the six friends settled in their seats, Richard turned and looked back at Noel with a sly grin that scared the hairs up on his skin.

"Hey Felicity, wanna get some ice cream?" Richard said so nonchalantly like today was just any other day.

And while Meghan and Javier scolded Richard at how inappropriate his question was, Noel and Sean noticed a familiar smile cross Felicity's features and a sparkle shimmer in her eyes that had been missing for so long.

"Yeah," she answered stunning them all into silence. "Ice cream would be really nice."

The end.


	2. Chapter 2

A/N: Okay, this was just going to be a one shot, but then today when I was supposed to studying for my accounting exam, I wrote this ending. So, here you have it.

Ice cream and a smile

Two years later.

"Dr. Porter, there's a male in curtain two with heart palpitations," one of the nurses called out to Felicity as she neared the nurse's stand.

"Ah, okay," Felicity remarked as she scribbled one final note onto a chart and handed it to the admin clerk behind the desk. "Did you put him on a monitor?"

"Well, I was going to, but the guy is kinda an ass," the short woman replied. "And I'm not starting my night with an butt hole sandwich. Not tonight. No way," the woman said rolling her head on her neck to show her attitude. She handed the chart to Felicity and plastered the look on her face that said _you're the doctor, missy._

Felicity sighed heavily and looked at her watch. Fifteen minutes until the end of her shift and just like the nurses, she didn't want to deal with any jerk before she went home. _I have dinner plans with Noel and I don't want to be grouchy or mean or in a bad mood with him, _she thought as she grabbed the chart and shuffled slowly down the hall.

_I have too much to tell him, _she thought smiling warmly. She ran her hand across her stomach and wondered what the life growing inside was doing at that minute. She knew it was barely even a life, just a cell mutating a thousand times. All the same it was a life she and Noel created. _Ben knocked up three other women, but never once could figure out how to make it work with me. Noel and I weren't even trying, _she mused as she stopped next to the curtain two.

She pulled back the curtain and walked to the side of the bed without looking. "Hi, I'm your doctor, Dr. Porter … mister …. Nrain," Felicity mumbled staring at the chart in disbelief. _That must be a typo, _she thought staring at the paper. "Cole Nrain?" she repeated looking up at her patient. His warm brown eyes met hers with laughter. "Noel!' she half laughed half exclaimed covering her mouth.

"Dr. Porter, my heart is killing me," he said trying to grimace in pain. "It hurts so badly for the woman I love that sometimes I can't stand it."

"You're crazy," she laughed setting the chart down on the bed.

"No Felicity, I'm not … I mean, yeah, I am," Noel stammered jumping down from his perch. "Look, I just got to say something and if it's too soon or you want to knock me across the head with that chart, then fine … I'm just going to put it out there."

"Noel what are you talking about?"

"Shh, no talking ... yet … just let me do the talking. And then you can talk, okay?" Noel interrupted her. He took Felicity's hand in his and ran his fingers down the side of her face. "I have loved you for forever. For geez … ten years. I've loved you as my friend; I've loved you as my partner. I've waited for you through all those years when you were with ….when we were with other people and in the end we keep finding each other. So I'm thinking there is a reason for that," Noel rambled and then looked deep into her eyes. He looked around the curtain area and ran his hand through his hair. He swallowed hard and shoved his hand into his pocket. "Felicity Porter," Noel said as he dropped down to one knee. "Will you marry me?"

Felicity felt heat crawl up her face and take her breath away. She stared into Noel's deep brown eyes and a wave of memories flushed over her. She had been engaged to Ben and even though they were planning a wedding when he died, he had never got down on his knee to propose. The ten years that Noel spoke of, she had spent most of that time with Ben. She had chased him and loved him, yet he always managed to break her heart. Every time, she went back to Noel. Noel Crane was the constant in her life that brought her solace in the face of her fears. Comfort when she was lost. Happiness and laughter when she wanted to cry.

"Yes," she whispered as tears formed heavy in her eyes. "Yes Noel Crane, I will marry you." She grabbed his hand and held it to her stomach and watched as the moment of realization cross his face.

"Are you?" he muttered looking up into her eyes.

"Yes," Felicity whispered. "I want to give you a son," she added, knowing it sounded so cliché. Noel just shook his head and stood up.

"No a girl," he argued as he cupped her head in his hands. "I want a girl that is beautiful just like her mother." He brushed his lips across hers and then drew her into a long deep kiss.

The private moment was immediately interrupted by Richard. "Hey moron! Did you give her the ring?"

"Hurry up Felicity say yes!" Meghan wailed. "The ice cream is melting."

"You guys are so not nice!" Javier grumbled. "Let them be a smooch doochy."

"They can smooch doochy the rest of their life," Elena argued. "I'm starving! I want to go eat. Felicity get out here!"

Noel and Felicity pulled back from the kiss and held each other's gaze for a moment before giving into laughter. Noel dug his hand into his pocket and pulled back the curtain.

"Felicity has graciously agreed to be my wife," Noel informed every person in the ER. "Which is good, since she's pregnant with my kid, I need to make an honest woman out of her." As the cheers went up in the room, Noel slid the diamond on her hand.

Felicity stared down at the platinum band and the sparkling diamond that was set on it. The stone had a hypnotic lure to it and she thought back to a session with Dr. Pavone. _She was right, I was in love with both Ben and Noel, but I didn't need to look in the drawer. Life did that for me. _

Laughter from the room drew her focus back to the moment. She picked up a cup of punch and let her ER staff and her friends toast the newly engaged couple. After the crowd chanted speech for a few seconds, Felicity stepped up to the plate.

"Our friends can tell you, since day one…. We were never so right about each other."

The End


End file.
